Called to Be Different...Part 1

Some personalities are very comfortable standing out in a crowd. I think about being in a large mall several years ago and walking past a gal with short, spiky hair who had fluorescent pink highlights. I could barely keep my eyes from trailing her all the while I was thinking, "Doesn't she realize how ridiculous she looks?"

Obviously, that girl did not mind being different from the hundreds of people shopping that day. She may have even loved being the center of attention.

That is not my personality. I don't always enjoy being different than most people around me, and I know a thing or two about that. Growing up as a polio survivor who needed braces and crutches to get around, set me apart from everyone around me. So I have felt the sting of being different, of being whispered about, and even being shunned. However, I decided early on that I would embrace being different and not let it be a huge hang-up for me. So, I framed answers for those inevitable questions that were asked - mostly by children who had the courage to let their curiosity speak up. And I grew tougher skin for the times when people - mostly adults - didn't quite know how to act around me.

For fifty-odd years, I have been different and, yet, have lived a normal life in this crazy world of ours. I learned what my boundaries were - what I could do and not do, and adjusted to them. All of us have experienced that isolating feeling of being different in some way at one time or another. For you, it may not have been as dramatic as my personal example, but you know that feeling. Perhaps your skin color was different than most people around you, or you were one of the only ones in your class whose Mom and Dad didn't live together, or you were overweight and made fun of, or you enjoyed playing with trucks and guns while the other girls played with Barbi and Ken (that's me again!), or you were not athletic like the other boys.This list could on and on, but the point is that everyone has faced times when they did not feel normal. In fact, when we stop and think about it, normal is relative, and most of us have adjusted to our normal.

Why, then, is it so difficult for us to embrace a new normal when it comes to our spiritual life? Some will argue that being a believer in Christ doesn't mean that we should be different than the world around us. They will say that Christians should not be seen as separate or activists for their beliefs because that would be offensive - and if we offend the world, how will we ever win the world for Jesus?

To those believers who shy away from standing out because of their faith, I want you to be encouraged and to gain strength from His Word.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are different - This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor. 5:17 NLT This new life is on the inside, regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or re-educated - we are re-created and living in unison with the Spirit.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we called to be different - So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord...God saved us and called us to live a holy life... 2 Tim. 1:8-9 NLT The new life He has saved us to is a holy one - one that is set apart to be different from the world.

As people, we are unable to live a holy life, but as believers in Jesus Christ, we are empowered - I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. Phil. 4:13 NAS Through His power we can grow into the spiritual men and women that He has purposed us to be.

Over the next two or three posts, we will be delving deeper into what holiness means and how holiness should set a believer in Christ apart from the rest of the world. My prayer is for us to grow in knowledge of and in desire to become more Chirst-like in our attitudes and behaviors.

That should set us on a path to a new normal - one that will cause children and adults alike to stop us and ask, "What happened to you?"

Oh, to be different - for Jesus....